These rules apply to all members, including moderators and admins. Violating any of the rules may result in a warning, locked/deleted topic, or ban.

Above all else, please be polite as you engage with your fellow LT players!

Be respectful.
Personal attacks on other forum members will absolutely not be tolerated. If you are offended by another users' post or conduct, try to contact that user directly to peacefully resolve the issue. In most cases a single PM can solve misunderstandings quickly. If you do not succeed, please contact a moderator for assistance.
In short, be excellent to each other.

Mild swearing is permitted. Minors do use these boards. Please bear that in mind. No discussion of adult topics.

No images, links to, or discussion of obscene, sexual, or offensive content, including but not limited to sexism, racism, incitement to violence and extreme religious and political views.

No commercial advertising.

No discussion of or links to sites promoting or concerning illegal activities, including but not limited to 'warez.'

We recommend using the Search Function before creating a new topic. Many questions that you may have have already been answered repeatedly. Likewise, if you wonder where your topic went, you can use the Search Function to find your post/topic; we rarely delete things outright and just move stuff around for housekeeping purposes.

When posting a new thread, make sure that your topic title is relevant. A thread with a name like "Question?" will not get you the answers you are looking for and "A Suggestion" will not be found if a developer is looking for existing suggestions about engine sizes.

Before you post a new topic, read the Game FAQ (below)! Your topic may be locked, moved, or largely ignored if you ask or suggest something that has been repeatedly addressed.
The Forum FAQ deals only with using the forum software.

11. Don't PO the moderators.

“Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right.” ~ Henry Ford

Use Ctrl-F in your browser to quickly search the topic if you're looking for something specific.

Please keep in mind that most of this is now being kept up to date by multiple people. If there is a topic or issue that you feel needs to be added onto the FAQ, feel free to message me or one of the other mods. At the same time, the game is not yet released, and thus some of these answers are subject to change.

Questions that show up here with answers are answers that have been provided via different methods of the forum and have been granted an definitive via Josh. If you have a specific question regarding certain points in the FAQ, feel free to message me or one of the mods. If it is here, you can rest assured that it is engraved in stone and can not be changed*.

Space can be cold, dark, and lifeless. But not here. Here, in the many universes of Limit Theory, space is luminous, vibrant, and rich with opportunity. Step into an open-world, sandbox universe in which you can explore, trade, pirate, mine, escort, hunt, defend, build, and more.

In brief, Limit Theory is:

An open-world space simulator / RPG.

A sandbox game : No story, no restrictions.

Completely procedural : A completely new universe is only a button-click away.

Infinite : The game universe has no boundary.

Third-Person or First-Person : Command your ship from within or without.

Deep and intelligent : Engage in far more than just comabt or trading.

Twitch-Based : Aim and fire weaponry directly, as you would in a shooter.

Approachable : Intuitive controls and slick interfaces ensure that playing will never feel like a job.

Strategic : Command an entire fleet when you amass enough cash to purchase more ships.

Single Player : A universe built just for you, that no one else will ever get to see (unless you choose to share it with them!)

Beautiful and Atmospheric : Gaze in awe at a universe as diverse, vibrant, and uniquely-atmospheric as your dreams.

While this was the onset and is still the core focus of the game, some things have changed (mostly minor) over the course of development. If you would like to find out more about the original premise, please check out the Kickstarter for more information and videos from the original campaign.

II. Kickstarter Campaign

Continued / Additional Funding

This question gets asked a lot. Short answer; No. There will be no more pledges or pledge upgrades. No exceptions.

JoshParnell wrote:There are a few reasons for this. First, I expressed my position while the campaign was still running, that I believe a crowdfunding campaign should set a deadline and stick to it. I think it's all too easy to get sucked into the "just a little more funding time" and end up continuing on for much longer than initially intended. In my opinion, it sends the wrong message. The LT funding campaign was intended to acquire funding to make the game. I did that, and I certainly acquired enough to make LT, so I'm not going to accept any more until I can offer a real product in return for your money!

Josh has stated many times that for him this would be more of a logistical hassle that he is not willing to deal with. Kickstarter provided a very simplified and unified way of handling money, and setting up something new will take time away that Josh does not want to deal with.

JoshParnell wrote:If you missed the KS, I'm really sorry, but you'll have to wait for the release! In the mean time, feel free to join in our discussions on the forum

With that being said, do not be surprised if your topic gets locked due to the overabundance of this question being asked. There is, however, a thread here where some of the original backers request pledge transfers from time to time. If a backer wishes to sell their pledge rewards, they may do so here, and you may purchase it from them.

Release Date

Originally the release date for Limit Theory was projected to be early 2014. Due to the size and complexity of the game, Josh later had to revise his estimates to early-2015. After unforeseen incidents involving his mental health, this has been pushed back to an undefined "as soon as possible". The game is larger than what was originally expected, hence the slipping time frame. There is no single reason for the slipping, and if there is curiosity as to why, the best way would be to go through the development logs and the announcement forums--be warned though, this is a ton of information that is too much to sift through, even for this FAQ.

There will not be a release for an alpha, but there will be one for the beta. As it stands right now, there is no release date specified for the beta, just a simple When it's ready. When Josh has updated this information you can be assured that it will be properly communicated. Until then, don't ask, as even Josh himself doesn't know.

At the same time, there are no plans for an open beta. Adding anything like this trivializes those who got into the Kickstarter and lessens the exclusivity that was promised to those backers. This also includes Steam Early Access.

Unless an official announcement comes from Josh himself, do not bother asking for a release date. The FAQ will be updated once there is a more concrete answer. Expect these topics to be locked.

Notice Regarding Forum Behavior over Release Date

The release of the game as well as the beta are both late. Josh has stated numerous times how bad he feels about this fact. We get it, and we also understand that there may be quite a few of you that are genuinely upset about this. There are even those who have been here since the beginning and those that have donated a lot of money who also feel the same way. You're not alone.

However, despite this frustration, Josh will continue on with the game in a manner that he deems best for the game and anyone who posts on the forums will probably not change his mind on how he proceeds. This is not a snub at those who may feel they have been wronged, nor is it an excuse to why things are where they're at. The cold, hard truth of the matter is that the past is the past and that things are still progressing.

That being said, discussions regarding how irritated some people are regarding the lateness and development style that Josh chooses to adopt will begin to be merged with the main unhappiness thread. It is not to silence those who have concerns, but to keep the forums tidy. Please be respectful of others, and keep the arguments about lateness to a minimum.

Mailing List

There is no mailing list. However, if you would like to be informed of announcements relating to Limit Theory, you can sign up for the forums and then subscribe to the Announcement Forum. By subscribing to a forum as opposed to a topic, an email is sent whenever a new topic is created and not every single posted reply.

III. Development

Limit Theory Prototype / Earlier Versions

The Limit Theory Prototype (LTP) was released on April 27th of 2013. LTP was released only to those who backed at the prototype level. LTP has not been updated, and there will be no more releases of this. It is not an alpha, but simply a combat prototype. LTP will NOT be released to the masses as it no longer represents what Limit Theory is and doing so would be taking a step backward. The answer is no and will not change, so please do not ask.

The Limit Theory Prototype forums may be closed off in the future, but for right now, they're mostly there for reference. Unless your topic pertains specifically to LTP, do not use these forums. Feel free to post in the same category under the general forums, though. This is more than likely where your post belongs.

At the same time, you will not be able to buy yourself into the LTP version as Josh is not accepting any more funding as mentioned above. We're sorry, but that's just the way it is.

If you have lost your link to the prototype or need to download it again, please send Josh an email at (josh @ ltheory . com) with the email address in which you pledged with Kickstarter. Do not abuse this asking for getting into the Prototype if you didn't pledge at that level -- it will be ignored!

System Requirements

This game does not use CryEngine or Unreal Engine 4. This game is using a custom engine created specifically for Limit Theory. As such, the system requirements are not ungodly high. In fact, the requirements are fairly low for a game of this magnitude. Josh has been developing the game with performance seen as a necessity, so you will likely not need to upgrade your hardware in order to play this game. While really old systems won't be able to play the game, as long as you have something fairly recent (within the last 3-4 years) you should have no problems playing it. Unfortunately, as the game is not yet in beta, there is as yet no definitive answer to "Can my computer run this?".

There will be a Linux version of the game in addition to Windows. The prototype however was Windows only. The current version is being developed under Linux. OSX is currently not planned for support on release, due to the fact that they have not updated their OpenGL software since 2010. This does not mean that Mac support is dropped: Josh plans to create an OSX-specific version post-release.

Suggestions

Have a suggestion or idea that you think might be useful? Well, you're in luck! We have an entire subforum dedicated to suggestions and ideas. The community is pretty open regarding ideas, and even if an idea may not seem like it will work, there are plenty of members who may even try to figure out a way to shoe-horn it in.

As this forum category is pretty large, you may need to use the search function to help find what you're looking for. This is not to say that everything has been suggested though! We encourage necro-bumping threads (the act of replying to a thread that is quite old) if you would like to contribute to specific topics.

Not all suggestions are taken into consideration. Josh has the final say on whether something will make it into the game. If he decides he doesn't want to put it in the game, do not keep pushing the issue.

The only time suggestions are shot down is usually only if they have been confirmed by Josh that they are off the table completely. However, there is a caveat to this as well; most of the time when an idea is off the table it is either due to taking too much time to implement and thus pushing back the release date, or because it may take too much time to brainstorm for Josh. There are technical people among you and us that if you do happen to come up with a novel way around a roadblock that makes it easy for Josh to implement, feel free to post it, even if it was off the table previously. It may spark enough to get a feature in, or allow a different perspective on an older issue. This does not guarantee your idea will make it in the game.

IV. Features

This is by no means an exhaustive list. As the game is still in development, these are subject to change at a moment's notice. An up-to-date list of all features is kept here. This will continue to be updated as the project continues, and covers more than is within the scope of this FAQ.

Input / Output Devices

Currently there is support for joysticks, gamepads, and the traditional mouse and keyboard. There hasn't been extensive information regarding joysticks (such as HOTAS) however.

For third party input devices such as the Leap Motion or Myo, there has been no mention of their support. Of course, any device where you can bind to motions on the keyboard and/or mouse will automatically be acceptable.

Multiple monitor support is currently supported via stretching the image over multiple monitors. UI mapping is still under discussion though. Josh also has an Oculus Rift development kit as well as an HTC Vive, and these will be supported by the game.

Multiplayer

Simply put, no. This is one of those things that would take far too much time to brainstorm on Josh's part, and there are quite a few complexities associated with it (tracking thousands of bullets across the network and positioning data for all assets, etc). There are some hypothetical discussions on how it might be done via a mod, but not more than that.

Modding / Cheat Codes

There are two official methods for modifying the game; the Node Editor and Lua. The Node Editor, while in previous videos, has not yet been confirmed for re-implementation into Josh's new engine.

The Node Editor allows you to manipulate data and values in real time. The values in the node editor control just about everything in the game and through this, the user can modify the look and feel of their game and gameplay experience.

Lua is a scripting language that, in Limit Theory, handles all the game logic, procedural generation, and other features. You will be able to change almost everything except the engine itself, including models, textures, game mechanics, and more. Once there is a wiki or other source that documents Limit Theory's Lua modding system, it will be linked here.

Stretch Goals

For the stretch goals that were not reached, Josh had the following to say;

JoshParnell wrote:Maybe. I won't guarantee them unless we reach the goals, but I certainly won't rule them out just because we don't hit them. If I have "extra time" after finishing all the other guaranteed features, I may explore some extras, including un-reached stretch goals.

Concept

Josh's inspiration for the game mostly derives from the game Freelancer. This means that there will be many ideas that are used in that game that will also be present within Limit Theory. The following are confirmed in the game;

Flight Model: Space will have drag and your ship will slow down without constant acceleration

Non-orbiting / static placement of planets

Acceleration Gates / Trade Lanes (in the form of Warp Rails)

Star systems not to scale (scales will more than likely be larger than Freelancer though)

Wormholes / Jumpgates

Transitioned landings to and from stations / planets

Reputation system

Asset customization (brand, tattoo, or color your ships and stations in addition to the ship editor)

Optimized to have hundreds of ships in a sector at a time (and even more outside of the sector -- thousands of NPCs)

Some other major features worth mentioning that were put into the game due to stretch goals from the Kickstarter, or original features planned from the start;

Faction ownership / creation

Some form of planetary ownership

Carriers and mobile docking bays

Tracking of discoveries and points of interest

RTS interface for large fleets and empire management

AI that is robust enough to understand dynamic goals and delegation of tasks

The following are items that will not be in the game;

Player avatars (you can not get out of your ship and walk around)

Crew management

Flying around planetary surfaces (you will have a transitioned landing sequence but no manual process on planets)

Gravity

Orbital mechanics

Boarding ships

Cockpit (Possibly a fixed cockpit, but no working instruments)

*I am not Josh. Josh does change his mind from time to time. If he does change his mind, we will update this FAQ to reflect that. Until then, do not pressure him and if he feels he would like to change the way things are, that is up to him.

Last edited by Talvieno on Mon Jan 29, 2018 10:35 am, edited 3 times in total.

Early Spring - 1055: Well, I made it to Boatmurdered, and my initial impressions can be set forth in three words: What. The. F*ck.